Mark Levin: Ron Johnson, Russ Feingold, and a Monumental Opportunity

Yesterday, Ron Johnson appeared on Mark Levin's radio program again.

They discussed what's at stake in this election and what an incredible opportunity Wisconsin voters have to help get the country back on track.

Levin began the interview with this remark:

MARK LEVIN: There's a hugely important race, several hugely important races in Wisconsin, but one that I've been focusing on is for the Senate because I find Russ Feingold to be so radical and out of touch. And he's running against a citizen candidate, a terrific candidate - Ron Johnson.

Levin notes that Wisconsin voters have an opportunity to send a message to the entire country.

LEVIN: Now have I heard correctly that you guys have a chance of winning the governorship, too, or am I misplaced on that?

RON JOHNSON: We've got an extremely good chance of not only taking back the governorship, Mark, but also the state assembly and the state senate race. We could have an entire Republican sweep here if we get our voters out, if they stay engaged, and if they get to the polls. So, we've got a real shot here to totally turn the state of Wisconsin around.

LEVIN: Now that would be stunning, I mean, a stunning blow to the Left generally, a stunning blow to this administration, and a signal to the country and the whole world if Wisconsin moves to the Right. Because, you know, Feingold seems to have his finger in every Left-wing kook idea that comes across the table it seems to me, whether it's limiting free speech or promoting Cap and Trade, ObamaCare - he didn't think it went far enough but he wanted to vote for it.

It would be a stunning signal to the country and we have the power to deliver it.

We have to get to the polls and vote. It's such a simple act but it has such far-reaching consequences. It's crucial that we each do our part and participate in our democracy. We decide the direction of our country. Now's the time to act.

Levin closed the interview with Johnson by noting how badly the country needs him to win this election.

LEVIN: So we just want to tell you, Ron, we're really in your corner. We wish you all the best. We really do need you in Washington as well as we need Feingold to be defeated if we're going to turn things around. Thank you for dropping everything and running for the U.S. Senate, and God bless you, my friend.

JOHNSON: Well, we appreciate you, Mark, and appreciate everything you do because America is precious. We need to preserve it.

LEVIN: Amen. God bless you and good luck.

JOHNSON: Take care.

LEVIN: All right, folks, that's Ron Johnson. Literally came out of nowhere, I mean, politically. Successful businessman who said, 'You know what? I can't sit by an watch this anymore.' And took on a man, Russ Feingold, that everybody thought would be in the Senate forever, casting his wildly radical votes. Never met a tax he didn't vote for, a spending bill he didn't vote for, an entitlement. He just favors a massively bigger welfare state, you know, with no limits really.

He didn't think ObamaCare went far enough. That's not an independent. That's crazy.

And finally, he came up against an articulate candidate who has called him on all this and the people of Wisconsin have had enough.

You know what? We're all Americans. We know that way out of this is through the private sector. We know the way out of this is by streamlining and cutting and diminishing the size of government, and pulling it back within its constitutional boundaries. You don't keep punishing people, pushing them around, tormenting them, and yet, that's how Russ Feingold votes all the time.

Free speech, free speech - no, only for the neo-Nazis, only for the Klan, only for the New Black Panther Party, but not for people who want to contribute to a candidate. That we've gotta limit, right?

But we have a very good shot there in Wisconsin and we wish Ron Johnson the best. If you live in Wisconsin, please vote for crying out loud. This is a monumental opportunity to vote in somebody good and vote out somebody who's just too far out there. And if you know somebody in Wisconsin, call them.

Levin nails it when he ways that "this is a monumental opportunity to vote in somebody good and vote out somebody who's just too far out there."

We have to seize it.

Vote for Ron Johnson.
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Listen to the Podcast, 11/01 The Mark Levin Show.

The interview begins at 84:45.

Cap and Trade: Not Funny

Cap and Trade: Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance (REEP)

The Cap and Trade bill is brimming with crap, like the "retrofit" policy.

From CNSNews:

The 1,400-page cap-and-trade legislation pushed through by House Democrats contains a new federal policy that residential, commercial, and government buildings be retrofitted to increase energy efficiency, leaving it up to the states to figure out exactly how to do that.

This means that homeowners, for example, could be required to retrofit their homes to meet federal “green” guidelines in order to sell their homes, if the cap-and-trade bill becomes law.

The bill, which now goes to the Senate, directs the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to develop and implement a national policy for residential and commercial buildings. The purpose of such a strategy – known as the Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance (REEP) – would be to “facilitate” the retrofitting of existing buildings nationwide.

“The Administrator shall develop and implement, in consultation with the Secretary of Energy, standards for a national energy and environmental building retrofit policy for single-family and multi-family residences,” the bill reads.

It continues: “The purpose of the REEP program is to facilitate the retrofitting of existing buildings across the United States.”

The bill leaves the definition of a retrofit and the details of the REEP program up to the EPA. However, states are responsible for ensuring that the government’s plans are carried out, whatever the final details may entail.

“States shall maintain responsibility for meeting the standards and requirements of the REEP program,” the bill says.

So the goal is to create a Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance (REEP) program, a set of standards for a national energy and environmental building retrofit policy.

Existing buildings, RESIDENTIAL and commercial, would need to be retrofitted to meet the new national building code. Exactly what the standards will be aren't determined yet. That will be left up to the EPA "Administrator," a wise, all-powerful, god-like figure frequently referred to in this bill.

I find it very troubling that all these regulations and requirements, many unspecified, will be forced on property owners. We will be at the mercy of the whims of the "Adminstrator."

Also troubling is the monitoring of residential building energy performance and the creation of a database.

Your property will be included in a government database that monitors energy performance, and it will be expected to meet standards.

That sounds very intrusive to me.

From H.R. 2454: American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009:

SEC. 204. BUILDING ENERGY PERFORMANCE LABELING PROGRAM.

(c) BUILDING DATA ACQUISITION.—

(3) IMPROVEMENTS TO BUILDING ENERGY CONSUMPTION DATABASES.—

(B) RESIDENTIAL DATABASES.—The Administrator, in consultation with the Energy Information Administration and the Secretary of Energy, shall support improvements to the Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) as authorized by section 205(k) of the Department of Energy Organization Act (42 U.S.C. 7135(k), or such other residential energy performance databases as the Administrator considers appropriate, to aid the development of achieved performance measurement protocols for residential building energy use for at least 90 percent of the residential market within 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act.

There's going to be a database to track residential energy performance.

Within 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, achieved performance measurement protocols for residential building energy use for at least 90 percent of the residential market must be developed.

90 PERCENT OF THE NATION'S RESIDENTIAL MARKET WITHIN 5 YEARS!

This is Big Brother.

(d) IDENTIFICATION OF MEASUREMENT PROTOCOLS FOR ACHIEVED PERFORMANCE.—

(1) PROPOSED PROTOCOLS AND REQUIREMENTS.—

At the earliest practicable date, but not later than 1 year after identifying a building type under subsection (b)(1)(A), the Administrator shall propose a measurement protocol for that building type and a requirement detailing how to use that protocol in completing applicable commercial or residential performance labels created pursuant to this section.

(2) FINAL RULE.—After providing for notice and comment, the Administrator shall publish a final rule containing a measurement protocol and the corresponding requirements for applying that protocol. Such a rule—

(A) shall define the minimum period for measurement of energy use by buildings of that type and other details for determining achieved performance, to include leased buildings or parts thereof;

(B) shall identify necessary data collection and record retention requirements; and

(C) may specify transition rules and exemptions for classes of buildings within the building type.

Read it and weep. It goes on and on and on.

The layers and layers of regulations, the bureaucracy, the enormity of this national plan -- It's incomprehensible.

It's a mess, an extremely costly mess.

And this retrofit policy is just a tiny part of it. It's a crock.

Not only will this legislation cost American families thousands of dollars, but it will be utterly ineffective in sharply reducing greenhouse gases and reducing global warming.

From The American Spectator:

During the campaign, Obama also pledged that he would never raise taxes in any form on Americans making less than $250,000 per year. But his cap and trade tax is estimated to cost American families almost $2,000 a year when it becomes effective, growing to almost $7,000 a year for a family of four by 2035. That will be paid through higher prices for electricity, oil, gasoline, natural gas, home heating oil, coal, food, and every product that is produced or transported using energy. Remember: when the first President Bush violated his oft-repeated campaign pledge not to raise taxes, voters booted him out in the next election.

Democrats have suggested that the legislation would cost American families only $175 a year, or as little as $80. But fossil fuel use is not going to be reduced by 17%, growing to 83%, through added costs of $80 to $175 per year.

The rationale for this bill is to counter global warming by sharply reducing greenhouse gases, primarily carbon dioxide. But even if the bill works exactly as envisioned, the most radical environmentalists admit that it will only slow temperature increases by 2050 by a ridiculous 9/100th of one degree Fahrenheit! Even after all the costs of reducing the use of fossil fuels by 83%, that is all that would result.

That is because all humans across the planet produce less than 5% of all carbon dioxide emissions. So slashing U.S. emissions won't have much effect in any event. Moreover, don't expect other nations to follow us in this foolhardy policy.

"The most radical environmentalists admit that it will only slow temperature increases by 2050 by a ridiculous 9/100th of one degree Fahrenheit!"

Cap and Trade is a joke.

It's crazy.

I can't believe the country has come to this.

Cap and Trade: Selling Your Home

I wonder how many American homeowners realize what the Cap and Trade bill will do to their home values.

I wonder how many realize that before selling a home, an energy inspection will be required.

I wonder how many realize that there is going to be a residential database that tracks the energy efficiency of their homes. There will be an "ENERGY PERFORMANCE LABELING PROGRAM."

Big Brother, the U.S. Government, will be demanding that existing structures meet certain standards and be "retrofitted."

There will be the development of "achieved performance measurement protocols for residential building energy use for at least 90 percent of the residential market within 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act."

If your home doesn't meet the national building code, you'll have to bring it up to code. Inspectors will determine if your property is in compliance.

Read H.R. 2454: American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, specifically SEC. 202. BUILDING RETROFIT PROGRAM.

The Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance (REEP) program is sure to hit the middle and lower class homeowners the hardest.

Eric Martell writes:

Among other provisions that control nearly every aspect of our lives, the Waxman-Markley energy bill has a requirement that forces the entire United States to use a National Building Code based on the green building standards of California. Regardless of whether your house is in Miami, Florida or Bangor, Maine, you'll have to adhere to the standards used in a state that has one of the most moderate climates in the U.S. The construction industry is really going to suffer.

The bill forces sellers to have an energy inspection prior to being able to sell their home. Windows, appliances and insulation will have to be inspected and approved by a government inspector and modifications would have to be made for compliance before you can close the sale.

Basically, you won't be able to sell until you go through the expense of bringing your house up to the new code. This will cost a prohibitive amount in many cases. For example, let's say that you own an older house which you bought in 2003 for $250,000 and you now need to sell. Not only has the value fallen to or below the level of the mortgage due the the drop in prices, but you are now faced with re-insulating the entire house, installing new windows, and changing the HVAC & other appliances. The total cost for this type of renovation might easily come to well over 10% of the house's value.

It begins to look as if defaulting on the mortgage might become even more common. The real tradegy is that low income families are more likely to live in older houses which won't meet the new standards and which will require major upgrades. I thought that we weren't going to see any new taxes on people who make less than $250,000. What a cruel joke!

This is a horrible penalty being slapped on middle and lower income families, those more likely to live in homes that don't meet the National Building Code standards.

It used to be that a good cleaning and a new coat of paint were the only investments that would be necessary to get one's home in shape to sell it.

How many of the families living in homes that don't meet the new standards could afford to bring their homes up to code, by doing things such as replacing all their windows and replacing all their appliances?

A consequence of the Cap and Trade environmental quackery bill isn't going to be to spread the wealth around. National building standards and enegry inspections aren't going to penalize the rich. The middle and lower classes will be hurt the most. The greatest burden will be placed on them.

People will be trapped in their current homes if they don't pass the energy audit and they're required to make expensive upgrades. If they can afford to make the required upgrades, they'll raise their asking prices.

Like it or not, all homeowners will have to comply with the new energy standards laid out in Cap and Trade.

How many buyers will be able to afford the cost of a home with such pricey upgrades? Not many, especially since Cap and Trade will put so many people out of work.

The cost of this pile of new regulations will be passed on to the consumer. Guaranteed.

This is a disaster.

This is BS. These regulations will destroy the American dream of home ownership.

Expect more foreclosures.

What Obama and the Democrats and some Republicans are doing to the country sucks.

These Republicans voted for Cap and Trade:

Rep. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.)
Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.)
Rep. John McHugh (R-N.Y.)
Rep. Frank LoBiondo
Rep. Leonard Lance (R-N.J.)
Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.)
Rep. Dave Reichert (R-Wash.)
Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.)

What a disgrace!

Cap and Trade: Will It Save the Earth?